William Byron’s status as a NASCAR competitor was elevated to the ultimate height as he etched his name in the record books as a first-time Daytona 500 champion a year ago. Now entering the 2025 season as the reigning winner of the Great American Race, a potential feat is on the line for Byron and his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) Chevrolet team. With the driver poised to make his eighth 500 career start, he will also attempt to become the fifth competitor overall to win the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in back-to-back seasons.
A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, Byron made his Daytona 500 debut in 2018, in his first full season in the Cup Series. After winning the Xfinity Series championship with JR Motorsports, he was assigned to pilot HMS’ iconic No. 24 entry. Starting in 33rd place, Byron finished in 23rd place after he was scored four laps behind the leaders after he was involved in two separate incidents. The first was due to a nine-car accident on the final lap of the first stage period and a single spin after he cut a right-rear tire with 11 laps remaining.
The following season, Byron commenced his sophomore Cup campaign by winning the pole position for the 61st running of the Daytona 500 and his first career pole in NASCAR’s premier series. In doing so, the Charlotte native notched the 700th Cup pole for the Chevrolet nameplate and became the 42nd competitor to claim a pole award for the Great American Race. In addition, he also became the third competitor overall to steer the No. 24 HMS Chevrolet entry to a Daytona 500 pole alongside Jeff Gordon and Chase Elliott.
Byron led 44 laps and was racing towards the front in the closing laps when he was involved in an eight-car wreck during a two-lap shootout. He was unable to finish and was relegated to 21st place in the final running order.
Byron’s late accident in 2019 would mark the first of five consecutive DNFs in the Daytona 500 for the driver of the No. 24 HMS Chevrolet team. In 2020, he won the second Duel event that awarded him the fourth-starting spot for the 62nd Daytona 500. But while racing in a draft with his HMS teammates Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made contact with him on Lap 58 sending Byron spinning towards the backstretch’s infield.
He made head-on contact with the inside wall, which relegated him to a finish at the rear of the field in 40th place. Byron finished 26th and 38th, respectively, during his next two Daytona 500 starts when he was eliminated early amid multi-car wrecks. He then sustained a fifth consecutive DNF in the 65th running of the Great American Race in 2023 after he was collected in a 13-car pileup exiting the backstretch.
Then in 2024, Byron struck gold in his seventh attempt at winning the Daytona 500 after he emerged ahead of teammate Alex Bowman at the moment of caution on the final lap after both Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric spun and wrecked through the frontstretch. Byron also narrowly avoided a 23-car pileup with nine laps remaining after he got loose while being bump-drafted by Bowman. He then clipped Brad Keselowski sending Keselowski spinning exiting the backstretch and clipping pole-sitter Joey Logano as the pileup ensued.
With the victory, Byron, who only led the final four laps, became the 43rd competitor overall to win the Great American Race as he recorded the 26th 500 victory for the Chevrolet nameplate. It was also the first for the No. 24 HMS team since Jeff Gordon made the previous accomplishment in 2005. In addition, Byron’s season-opening victory at Daytona International Speedway allowed HMS to tie Petty Enterprises for the most Daytona 500 victories recorded by an organization at nine.
Through seven previous starts in the Daytona 500, Byron has achieved one victory, one pole, 49 laps led and an average finishing result of 26.1. A second victory in 2025 would make the Charlotte native the 13th competitor overall to achieve multiple Daytona 500 victories and he would make HMS the winningest organization of the Daytona 500 at 10. In addition, he would join Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Sterling Marlin and Denny Hamlin as the only competitors to win back-to-back Daytona 500 events.
This week, Byron, who finished in third place in the 2024 driver’s standings, will participate in a single-car qualifying session on Wednesday, February 12, and in one of two Duel events on Thursday, February 13, to determine his starting lineup for this year’s Daytona 500. The qualifying session on Wednesday will air at 8:15 p.m. ET on FS1 while the Duels will air at 7 p.m. ET on FS1.
The 2025 Daytona 500 will air this upcoming Sunday, February 16, with a starting broadcast time of 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
